The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, in partnership with the Lakeview Center, announced on Wednesday that the first $100,000 of the $549,245 state grant money has arrived, and the second part of the ECSO’s Mental Health Co-Responder Unit is set to begin. In October 2022, the ECSO announced the formation of its Mental Health Co-Responder Unit and the awarding of a mental health grant to fund it.
The unit will work alongside mental health professionals for mental health-related calls and will provide immediate care and resources for our community members in their time of need. Not only will the unit provide a co-response to mental health calls for service, but also provide mental health-related services within the agency.
This innovative and cutting-edge program is one of only two in the entire state of Florida to combine sworn law enforcement deputies with mental health clinicians. The ECSO will utilize two career law enforcement officers who hold master’s degrees in mental health counseling for this program.
In addition to these sworn law enforcement officers, the ECSO plans to field three units, each consisting of a sworn deputy and a mental health clinician, to respond to calls involving mental health complaints. This unit will be both proactive and reactive.
“Mental health is becoming more and more important when providing law enforcement services. Our unique co-responder unit allows us to provide services to our employees, as well as free patrol deputies to answer other calls for service. This is a huge step in the right direction, and we are hopeful that we can continue to build on this model.” – Sheriff Chip W. Simmons
Since August of 2022, the mental health unit has provided internal services to members of the ECSO. The unit has already provided approximately 135 sessions to members of the agency, and ECSO looks to stand up the external co-response portion in January.
